NEWS - FRIDAY, JULY 01, 2022 - NEWS
President Biden and NATO allies touted bold moves to counter Russia as their summit concluded in Spain. But unrest is growing in America, where many want more decisive responses from a White House seemingly unsure how to react to numerous crises. LA Times
VOA VIEW: The WH is all the way to the left.
Once Dems get a taste for the “carve-out,” they’ll want to do it all over again for other pet political issues. Republicans will, too. New York Post
VOA VIEW: Once the Senate Dems take out the filibuster - it will stay out.
Thursday’s Supreme Court opinion is a setback to the states, but it’s far from the last word on Biden’s border policies. New York Post
VOA VIEW: The American people know Biden has opened the southern border.
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The tools Donald Trump used to slow the flood of illegal migration are largely gone. New York Post
VOA VIEW: Biden has violated the security of the US.
The Supreme Court finally stomped on the EPA for trying to replace the Rule of Law with the Rule of Bureaucrats in their environmental crusade against Big Oil. New York Post
VOA VIEW: It's about time.
The ban, passed by Republican lawmakers and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is scheduled to take effect on Friday. New York Times
Rep. John Yarmuth was told by the White House that Biden plans to nominate conservative attorney Chad Meredith to fill an upcoming judicial vacancy.
USA Today
Whitney Austin was shot 12 times when a gunman appeared at her workplace. She remains a supporter of guns, while also working to keep streets safe.
USA Today
VOA VIEW: Right is right.
More than half of U.S. hospitals have not shared pricing information as required by a new federal law. Consumer advocates urge federal enforcement. USA Today
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Time to ditch the multivitamin? A new study explores the potential benefits and harms of certain vitamins and supplements. USA Today
VOA VIEW: TV products only sold on TV are usually a hoax.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Thursday that directs $335 million in state cash to construct virtual or physical fencing along the border with Mexico, part of a $564 million border security funding package that is the most ever spent by the state. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: Good for Arizona.
Planned Parenthood has sued to block Ohio's bill banning most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected while assuring Ohians that its state clinics are still offering the procedure. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: They don't want to lose money.
California will become the first state to guarantee free health care for all low-income immigrants living in the country illegally, a move that will provide coverage for an additional 764,000 people at an eventual cost of about $2.7 billion a year. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: Rewarding the lawbreakers.
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Moore v. Harper focuses on a new North Carolina voting map after maps proposed by the Republican-led state legislature were struck down ABC
In a 5-4 opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the high court rejected arguments by Republican-led states seeking to force officials to keep the policy. CBS
VOA VIEW: Bad for the US.
The court "took a sledgehammer to one of EPA's most important tools," one climate advocate said. CBS
VOA VIEW: Good - the EPA took on too much power that only Congress can make.
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Rep. Jody Chu, a Democrat from California, was among those arrested. CBS
VOA VIEW: They should pay for their insurrection.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority exerted its power across a term marked by major decisions on abortion, the Second Amendment and religious rights. CBS
The ruling delivers a significant blow to the Biden administration's efforts to fight climate change. CBS
AAA predicts nearly 48 million Americans will be hitting the road or the skies and traveling more than 50 miles this July 4th weekend. CBS News transportation correspondent Errol Barnett reports on what to expect and how to prepare for your holiday weekend trip. CBS
VOA VIEW: Foolish actions.
In an attempt to resolve against Russia, President Joe Biden announced more military deployments to NATO allies. Nancy Cordes has the latest on how the military alliance plans to counter Russian aggression. CBS
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A multitude of factors conspired to generate the stock market's worst first-half since 1970, but they all emanated from one word: inflation. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Thanks to Biden.
Meta chief product officer Chris Cox detailed the company's financial dilemma in an internal memo that detailed key areas where the social media giant plans to invest. CNBC
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom on Thursday said the carrier has offered its pilots pay raises totaling nearly 17% under a new contract. CNBC
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The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF invests in companies working to reduce risk and motivate sustainable recovery from natural disasters. CNBC
The FCC authorized SpaceX to provide Starlink satellite internet to vehicles in motion, a key step for Elon Musk's company to further expand the service. CNBC
Natural gas plunged below $6 on Thursday amid growing worries of an oversupplied market. CNBC
Bitcoin just finished its worst month in the 12 years that it's been available on exchanges. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Bitcoin is for fools.
Core personal consumption expenditures prices, excluding food and energy, rose 4.7% from a year ago, slightly less than expected. CNBC
Virginia's largest schooling system has been plagued with lawsuits for years with allegations that it ignored students' accusations of sexual assault. FOX News
VOA VIEW: As they should.
Multiple members of the West Hollywood, California, city council are standing by their decision to vote for a budget that cuts armed police staffing amid a crime surge. FOX News
Illinois is suspending the state's 1% tax on groceries for one year, as well as implementing other relief measures, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday. UPI
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday refused to hear the case of an Ohio death row prisoner sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old boy in 1986. UPI
China's mission to the European Union rebuked NATO on Thursday for singling out China for the first time in its latest Strategic Concept, which provides the alliance a guide to respond to security threats and challenges. UPI
VOA VIEW: China is looking bad.
In May, U.S. inflation was up 6.3% with energy up 35.8% from one year ago, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. UPI
VOA VIEW: The inflation number is much higher.
President Joe Biden said on Thursday that favors eliminating the filibuster in the U.S. Senate after the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade and removed national protections for legalized abortion. UPI
VOA VIEW: Biden and Dems never stop.
After more than a year of dueling decisions in lower courts, the Supreme Court ruled that President Joe Biden has the power to end a controversial Trump-era immigration policy that kept some refugees outside the U.S. UPI
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Raise your hand if you’re surprised that the trillions of dollars spent on COVID-19 relief gave way to billions of dollars in government waste, fraud and abuses. Based on recent reporting, you might think this type of carelessness with taxpayers’ money has never before happened. Sadly, such waste and fraud are normal byproducts of most government programs. In other words, fraud and waste was inevitable.
Too much focus on waste and fraud misses a more important problem: Lots of the COVID-19 spending that doesn’t qualify as wasteful or fraudulent was nonetheless misspent. When the pandemic hit the United States in March 2020, people all over the country panicked. Everyone seemed to agree that the right thing to do was pump the nation full of as much money as possible, as fast as possible. As a result, nearly everyone — married, unmarried, employed, unemployed, through businesses small and large — got cash through the $2 trillion CARES Act.
Some people did raise the potential for fraud. We were told that there was no time to put in place measures sufficient to prevent it. However, the CARES Act did create an oversight mechanism called the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. The committee had a difficult task due to the enormous size of the relief bill, a hardship compounded by the fact that the program had to become functional before it could even start looking into the spending. Dollars were pouring forth fast from Washington, and the committee was basically behind from the start.
Then Congress added another two relief bills totaling around $3 trillion and including extensions of some programs implemented in the CARES Act. It’s now clear that an enormous amount of the eventual $5 trillion was spent “improperly,” and that some was downright fraudulent. For instance, according to the Labor Department, at least $163 billion of the $873 billion in unemployment insurance benefits was spent in error, and little of this sum was recovered. Making matters worse is that a significant share of the $163 billion was claimed by organized fraudsters and scammers in the United States and countries like China and Russia. There is also the COVID money that was given the illegal migrant expenses.
